


A Compassionate Response

by pipisafoat



Series: Abby Lyman [15]
Category: The West Wing
Genre: Cancer, Gen, Mentions of Cancer, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Service Collie, Service Dogs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-14
Updated: 2019-01-14
Packaged: 2019-10-10 08:27:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17422388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pipisafoat/pseuds/pipisafoat
Summary: "Every time Josh looks at me, his dog noses at him. I know it means something, and I don’t have to know what it means, but is there anything I can do about it?"





	A Compassionate Response

**Author's Note:**

> Content Notes:  
> \- PTSD references  
> \- cancer, chemo, hair loss references

“Hey, Donna, can I talk to you for a minute?” he asks, jumping up from his chair and stopping with a hand to her arm just inside the door. “It’s important but not urgent.”

She nods, waves Josh and Abby on, and returns to the rapidly-emptying Roosevelt Room. “What’s going on, Dawson?”

He runs a hand over his head and grimaces. “It’s just … Every time Josh looks at me, his dog noses at him. I know it means something, and I don’t have to know what it means, but is there anything I can do about it?”

Donna frowns and looks at the ground. “It does mean something. There’s nothing you have to do about it.”

“But there’s something I could do about it,” he guesses.

“Yes,” she replies hesitantly.

“What is it?”

She shakes her head. “I can’t ask you to.”

“You’re not. I’m gathering information so I can do it if it works for me. I’m offering, right? You’re not asking. So what is it?”

Donna’s turning red, still staring at the ground. “It’s your hair, Dawson. Logical or not, I think Josh associates your lack of hair with skinheads and … well, I mean, he knows you’re not a skinhead, and he knows it’s the chemo. But unconsciously. The part of the brain that gets triggered in PTSD can really bypass your conscious mind, you know?”

“I can wear a wig,” Dawson offers, as much to cut off her clearly embarrassed rambling as anything. “I’ll try to find one in the next few days, and I can stay out of his bullpen in the meantime.”

“Don’t tell him,” Donna says in a pleading tone. “Just … can you let everyone think it was some other reason?”

“No problem,” he promises.


End file.
